Professor Snape – seen as a bad guy for much of the Potter saga until his redemption in the final book – was seventh, in the Times Educational Supplement's (TES) survey of 1,200 muggle (non-magical) educators.

Proving that teachers admire a rule-breaker, also included in the top 10 were unorthodox English teacher Mr Keating from Dead Poets Society (fourth), quick-tempered Mr Gilbert from The Inbetweeners (ninth) and crystal-meth making chemistry teacher Walter White from Breaking Bad (tenth).

Philip Nel, a professor of English at Kansas State University and a Harry Potter expert, suggested that the inclusion of three Hogwarts teachers is down to not just the popularity of the series, but also author J K Rowling's understanding of the teaching profession.

He told the TES: "In many ways, she uses her books to highlight what does and doesn't work in the classroom.

"Each time you're looking at a teacher in the Harry Potter books, you're also looking at Rowling's sense of what teaching is, and what good and bad teaching looks like."